REVIEW: Hung Hunk Tales by Troy M. Grant

Hung Hunk Tales by Troy M. Grant
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hung Hunk Tales features guys with big dick as its main kink in its anthology of gay erotica. Other kinks include spontaneous sex, bareback sex, popping cherries, and physically smaller tops. There is a slight D/s-esque tone in most of these stories.

The short stories are largely formulaic: shy guy see hung hunk, shy guy stalk hung hunk, hung hunk see shy guy, hung hunk grab shy guy and then make shy guy blow him and lastly penetrate him. The 8 short stories total to an approximate count of 20,500 words and are written in 1st PoV.

The Stories

Baseball Bargain follows the formula. It is told from Nate's side. Eric the physically smaller top see Eric peeking and soon he is topping Nate. This story is one of the four that use condom in its sex scene.

Shower Sub Service is the near same as its predecessor. It is told from Gavin's side. Instead of Eric, it is Ross who is the physically smaller top.

Size Counts slightly deviates from the formula. It is told from Jake's side. Jake isn't submissive and shy as the previous two protagonists were. There are a total of three sex scenes, two short ones at the start and one long at the end. The two short ones are blowjobs Jake received from his friends. The long one take place the next year where Jake loses his virginity with Luke the physically smaller top.

Small Town, Big Dick is non-formulaic. It is told from Jimmy's side, the top's side. It is a May/December pairing. Jimmy meets "daddy" Scott, and then tops him. It the second story to use condom.

Jungle Fuck is also non-formulaic. The narrator and his friend Ike have a menage a trois with some "jungle hunk." There is a masturbation scene and then all three young men blowjob each other.

Freshman Innocence continues the formula, with a few differences. It is told from Dan's side, Dan the physically smaller hung hunk who gets drooled over. Chip the college jock tops Dan. It is the third story to use condom.

Foreign Temptation is the near same as Small Town, Big Dick but opposite and with one pleasant surprise. It is a May/December pairing and is told from the middle age man. He gets topped by Armando, the young hung hunk. The ending is a HEA, making this short story an erotic romance, imo, instead of an erotica.

He’s No Angel is somewhat formulaic. It told from Ben's side and Ben is submissive but he isn't shy to get what he wants an he wants Angel. Angel is nicknamed so his face but his attitude is that of a demon. The demon-like top insults Ben, make Ben BJ him, and then penetrates Ben. The short story is the heaviest in its D/s-esque tone compared to the other short stories. It is the fourth and last story to use condom.

Conclusion

I rate the Hung Hunk Tales 3 stars for I liked it. The eight stories were successfully smutty. There were no editing errors I could see. Freshman Innocence and Foreign Temptation were my two favorite short stories.

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REVIEW: Daydreamer by Michael S. Booker

Daydreamer by Michael S. Booker
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Daydreamer is a mm-romance of approximately 6800 words told in 3rd PoV from Jesse Warner's side. The story begins with Jesse moaning about his single status to Mason Turner over coffee at Starbucks. Acting as best friend, Mason decide to set up Jesse on a blind date with Gabe Marquez, Mason's college classmate.

Jesse and Mason existed as a dichotomy. Jesse is a romantic at heart. He is relationship-minded and desperate for love. He cannot give away his body without giving his heart alongside. Mason is a party boy. He is self-proclaimed slut and loudly proud of it. He doesn't hesitate to prude-shame his best friend or participate in orgies given a chance. Both friends are young, male, and gay — all three attributes with a perchance of being stereotyped for promiscuity. Mason was stereotypical to parodic extreme, while Jess was atypical to an unrealistic extreme on the other side of the spectrum.

I liked Jesse, but I didn't care for Mason. I perfectly related to Jesse on many levels to the point where I could have easily imagined Jesse as myself. I found Mason arrogant, shallow, and his teasing of Jesse unfunny. One reason Mason would play matchmaker with Jess instead of sleeping with Gabe himself because Gabe, like Jesse, was not into casual sex. Thus it was not completely altruistic on Mason's part. I was happy to see that Mason appeared only in one scene. I didn't hate Mason but he was hardly likable.

Beside Jesse, I liked Gabe too. I confess, I wasn't delighted when Mason told Jess that Jesse was fresh from an amicable break-up with his ex-girlfriend and that Jesse recently discovered his bisexuality. I was afraid for Jesse that Gabe might use Jesse for a sexual experiment, but then I quickly realize if that was true Gabe would have done it with Mason who would have been all too happy for it. My fears were completely unfounded, and Gabe was every bit a nice guy.

I liked Jesse, I liked Gabe, I didn't hate Mason, and I liked the plot. So why the low rating? It is because the story had an abrupt ending. The sexual tension was built up so nicely and then BAM! it was over. So when I finished the story, I didn't realize I had finished the story. I had to re-read the ending to double-check the story's completeness, that this wasn't some sort of an excerpt — it wasn't. Daydreamer had a HEA which I generally love, but I love them when they are developed well. Daydreamer could have use a few more paragraphs. Because of this one flaw, it was enough for me to bring it down a star. I was almost tempted to rate the short story one star out of sheer annoyance. Yes, the flawed ending was that big of a deal for me.

In short, I rate Daydreamer two-stars for it was okay. I liked everything but the poorly developed HEA ending.

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REVIEW: Ice Cage by Yamila Abraham

Ice Cage by Yamila Abraham
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I rarely read ménage fiction, yet what lured me to Ice Cage was the smutty cover depicting a ménage à trois and the book description telling me it is about a ménage à trois. For the most part, the book gave me what I expected — graphic sex scenes of ménage à trois. There was a total of two graphic sex scenes, one in the middle and one at the end. Yet, there was something else I didn't expect.

The 7000-words story is told in 3rd PoV from Tyler's side. In Ice Cage, Tyler is trying to fend off Mikhail and Sebastian's seduction. Because the story starts off with Mikhail playfully spanking Tyler as some sort of joke/present/flirting for Tyler's birthday, I could tell Tyler was reaching his tipping point where he could no longer resist the scientists' amorous advance... or his own sexual needs.

Ice Cage has three characters. There was Tyler, a poor Italian ESL teacher who just turned 27 years old. There was Sebastian, a gay 47-years old Austrian scientist with a neat-freak tendency. Finally, there was Mikhail, a married 53-years old Russian scientist turned "prison gay" during the 50 weeks a year stuck in an isolated igloo for some science thingy.

What I did not expect was a romance between Tyler and Sebastian. Mikhail acted as a third wheel; he was just there for sex's sake satisfying his own sex drive. The romance between Tyler and Sebastian pleasantly surprised me. What also surprised me was how I didn't find Mikhail to be intrusive. Perhaps, I did find Mikhail to be unnecessary and probably would like the story better if the sex was just between Tyler and Sebastian (though, tbh, I'm not sure if that would make sure sense plot-wise). But for sure, I didn't Mikhail's presence intrusive.

To reiterate, Ice Cage was a short story of approximately 7000 words. This was 3/4 of the book, the last 1/4 of book was an excerpt from Incubus Master: Scor's Story by the same author. Overall, Ice Cage was a smutty, slightly sweet read. I rate it three stars for I liked it. I would have liked it some more if it was longer, i.e. a third sex scene, or had graphic illustrations because the cover-art was hot! Regardless, I found the HEA ending wholesomely satisfying.

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REVIEW: Subtle Experiments by Stephanie Dart

Subtle Experiments by Stephanie Dart
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Subtle Experiment is a 3200-words story that is split into three parts: Childhood, High School, and College. Each part contains one scene, all three scenes showing Josh's interaction with Chance. Told in 1st PoV from Josh's side, the story chronicle Josh's slow acceptance of his sexuality and ultimately himself. Coupled with the coming-out plot is the development of the relationship between Josh and Chance, hence the reason for why Chance is in all three scenes.

Though the story was very short, it told alot. I learned Chance's father is the reason why Chance has no problems with gay people because his father is gay — who probably taught Josh to be open-minded as I deduced and assumed. I learned Josh's grandparents is the reason why Josh refused to accept that's he gay. I got the impression that Josh was an orphan living under the guardianship of his grandparents which explains how they greatly influenced him with their bigotry.

I had difficulty liking Josh in the beginning of the story. I read how he started smoking in his childhood as a way to fit in — which was stupid, imo, because 1) it hardly worked and 2) resulted in a filthy habit from Childhood to High school. Based on what happened in Childhood and High School, I got the impression that Josh self-ostracized himself more than his peers ostracizing him. Only Chance was ever there for Josh, even when Chance was a popular jock in high school and there were gay rumors about him and Josh.

The ending was nice, but I felt 2/3 satisfied with it. From Childhood to College, Josh was a grumpy misfit. I couldn't empathize with Josh, he needed an attitude adjustment. Moreover, I wish the ending was longer or there was an extra part showing Josh being happy and nicer. With Chance, of course. I like the story mostly because of Chance and because of the cover-art.

Overall, the short was nice. I rate it 2-stars for it was okay. It would have been three-stars had Josh showed some character development, i.e. an attitude adjustment.

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REVIEW: Extinction Point by Paul Jones

Extinction Point by Paul Jones
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

CAUTION: Long Review, Slight Spoilers

I hesitated reading Extinction Point (EP) because I did not care for the author's other Apocalyptic book, Towards Yesterday. However, when the author offered me a free copy I took the opportunity. At most I would have wasted my time and be placed in an awkward situation of low-star rating the book. Yes, it's that same kind of awkwardness when Grandma gives you a present... and it's an ugly sweater. Fortunately, I found the book thoroughly enjoyable.

EP starts off with Emily Baxter on a reporting gig. I instantly like Emily the first time I read her internal monologue about weird magazines found in waiting areas. My affection for her increased when Emily refused to accept any nonsense from the hooky-playing receptionist, barring Emily from her appointment. All that happened in the first scene, a short scene. A definite strong start the book have. Already I was rooting for Emily and salivating to read more of her. The book did not disappoint.

Exclusively told from Emily Baxter's side in 3rd PoV, the story is about Emily trying to survive the Apocalypse alone. Not that she had any choice since everyone else was dead. By luck or genetic Emily managed to survive the plague brought on a mysterious weather phenomenon dubbed as "Blood Rain." The book pulled no punches, the first time Emily saw herself truly alone was after witnessing her boyfriend's spontaneous gory death. Later on she tried calling her parents in Florida. No one answered. Ever. Emily then walked to her neighbor's place where a mother and a father and their little boy were dead. From the blood spill and stain, they too must have suffered a spontaneous gory death. Dead person here, dead person there, dead people everywhere. Blood all around. Emily go crazy?

The Character(s?)

+++ Emily

No, Emily did not go crazy. She did screamed some when she saw her boyfriend dying in front of her. But that was it. The story could have made Emily go bat-shit crazy at the blood bodies surrounding her, but it didn't.

Death was coming for her, she knew and waited. It was just a matter of seconds before she joined Nathan and the millions of victims across the world who had already succumbed to this violent, insidious red-plague. What was strange though was with the inevitability of her death came a serenity of sorts, a calmness within her mind as everything complicated in her life ceased to matter. Her only responsibility now was to wait.

The cold honesty of her situation, the simplicity of it all, was a welcome relief.

So, she waited.

I tearless wept for Emily when I read that passage. I was delighted when she managed to pull herself together quickly after. However, I soon noticed this "cold honesty of her situation" became somewhat of a repeated occurrence. I was happy to see Emily being well aware of the danger she placed herself in, even when was she weaponless. I was not happy how that same "cold honesty of her situation" made her quickly resign to death when face with danger and seemingly no chance of escape. Many times when I wanted to scream "Don't give up!" at her. Nevertheless, as far as character flaws goes, this "cold honesty of her situation" was very low on my irritation scale. I hardly ever thought she was annoying because of it, I thought the flaw made her more real as a person.

Throughout the story, Emily was smart and resourceful. She achieved a good balance between her paranoia that was brought on by the Apocalypse and her inquisitiveness that made her a talented reporter. I did have moments where I didn't know what she was doing or why she was doing it, but I didn't doubt her action. I was confident knowing whatever Emily did she did it for a good reason.

Emily Baxter was a kick-ass heroine in the fact that she did things and got things done. She may have been weak in front of the WTFkery mutants the Apocalypse birthed — what average person wouldn't, but when she had an opportunity to overcome them she instantly took it. When she got hurt, she didn't shrug it like it's nothing. She said ouch, disinfect it, and then let it rest like a reasonable person.

Bonus part was her morbid humor. That was icing on the character cake.

Some messages explained their authors were hunkering down and hoping to ride out the storm, there were even one or two that dismissed the threat as nothing more than mass hysteria.

How'd that work out for you? Emily wondered.

LOL. Absolutely hilarious. Too bad no one was there to appreciate this irony or to tell “I told you so”...'cause, you know, they're all dead.

+++ Thor

He's a dog, specifically an Alaskan Malamute. He saved Emily from the WTFkery mutant. He's trained, so trained that despite starvation he won't eat until Emily had to give the Eat command. Nothing more to say except I love him. I kinda wish he showed up earlier in the story, but then it might have lessen the impact of his arrival. The story really want to pull the point across that Emily Baxter was alone.

+++ WTFkery mutants

The dead bodies didn't stay dead for long... No, they didn't became zombies. This is what made EP distinctive from the common Apocalyptic books. Instead, the mysterious red thing from the "Blood Rain" molded the various body parts into some sort of creatures I don't know what it is but I personally nicknamed them as WTFkery mutants. As the story described these, um, things were about grotesque as a leaf-nosed bat — I dare you to google that — or the human centipede from that...well, The Human Centipede films.

More than the WTFkery mutants, what made EP scary-good was well how it build up the suspense of Emily meeting a WTFkery mutant for the first time. Second was the fact that some of them were not aggressive. You read right. Some. Not all. Some.

How ironic was it, she thought, that in every alien invasion movie she had ever seen, every sci-fi book she had ever read, the aliens were always either intent on eating us or just misunderstood. No one ever seemed to consider the possibility they might just ignore us completely; that the survivors of the human race might be so very inconsequential to their plan.

No kidding. How dare some of these WTFkery mutants ignore Emily. All of them should be trying to chase and devour her. Get with the Apocalyptic act, would you? /sarcasm. LOL.

Addressing the Apocalyptic Issue

+++ cause of apocalypse

The story addressed all the finer points of the Apocalypse very well. The events leading up and after "Blood Rain" were well built. The red thing that made everyone died and change into WTFkery mutants were well developed — I was pleasantly surprised at how scientific Emily was in her examination of the Apocalyptic red thingy. There many theories Emily played around; the one seem best to me was that it was some sort of an alien virus. EP never outright said what it is, thus the answers — including the one why the Apocalypse happened — lies in future books which I eagerly look forward to.

+++ get your weapon

EP seem to accurately describe what an Apocalyptic survivor would have to do to keep on surviving. One thing that slightly irked me what that I wished Emily would have got her hand on a weapon as soon as possible. It's always smart to run away and hide, but there are times when that isn't feasible. I hope in future books, Emily would always have a weapon at hand. Like Gin Blanco from my favorite Urban Fantasy series, the Elemental Assassin. That kick-ass heroine never walk anywhere without her silver knives.

+++ travel by... bike?

The biggest issue — of the very few issues — I had with EP was the bike. Um... Is Emily going to travel to Alaska by bike? Not that it's impossible, but it doesn't seem very practical. Or fast. If Emily can't travel by car because of all the abandoned cars blocking the roads, why not a motorcycle? It's almost as slim as a bike that she can move through tight passages. I hope this issue is quickly addressed and resolved in the sequel.

+++ travel by... bike? [ETA]

I finally figured out why Emily would pick a bike. The answer was there right all along, it just took a while for me to get it through my head. Anyway, the reason is because if it's anything is broken, she can fix the bike. Yet...

I guess it's because I'm mostly focusing how the book is set up. The book is divided into seven parts, each part is a day. Each day consist of multiple chapters. If the next book is going to be the same, divided into days, then I wonder how many days it would take for Emily to bike from NYC to Alaska.

A few reasons why I find a motorcycle more practical is because what if a WTFkery mutant start chasing her? It's easier to make a quick getaway on a motorcycle than on a bike. A bike would require exercise on her part, while with motorcycle all she needs is gasoline. What happens if she's injured or too tired to ride a bike and then a WTFkery mutant or a bunch appear? A bike won't help. And there's only so many she can shoot, assuming if she's an accurate shooter, assuming if the mutants can die with bullet wounds, assuming if the mutants can even be pierced with bullets.

The book always made me aware of the time. Emily riding a bike doesn't really push the point of how urgent it was that she need to escape the city full of WTFkery mutants and reach the haven in Alaska.

If riding a motorcycle is simply too scary for her, there's always the scooter.

The Editing

For a self-published book, EP was well edited. Nonetheless there were some mistakes, mostly of the rogue punctuation kinds. I believe I only noticed them because I literally read EP word for word. That's how good the book was; I didn't skim anything. The followings are mistakes I found:

[Her stomach gave an anticipatory grumble. .] Kindle Location 182. There's an extra period.

[As Emily ’s eyes roamed the buildings,] Kindle Location 590. There's an extra space in the possessive noun.

[Obviously, the power was still on because her alarm clock was still working,.] Kindle Location 1688. There's a rogue comma before the period.

[intent on insinuating themselves into every nook and crevice of the apartment and the city. .] Kindle Location 1925. There's an extra period.

[Waggghhhhrrrrrgh!] Kindle Location 2065. This needs to be italicized like the other onomatopoeia.

[She took the bergen and left it near the front door while she grabbed her jacket .] Kindle Location 2415. There's a space before the period.

[was loose enough she wouldn’t end up accidentally stabbing herself .] Kindle Location 2420. There's a space before the period.

[She began to breathe a little easier ,] Kindle Location 2920. There's a space before the comma.

[what he liked to call ’the best bargains on two wheels‘.] Kindle Location 3116 The type of single quotation marks are not correct. It's supposed to be ‘ first, and ’ second.

[It was intoxicating..] Kindle Location 3186. There's an extra period.

[911] Kindle Location 370, 457, and 585. These are supposed to be "9/11" to denote it as an event, not an emergency number.

These are the mistakes I found in my first reading the book. However, as I said before, I only noticed them because I literally read EP word for word. There was nothing I found boring about EP at all.

+++ The Editing [ETA]

They're fixed.

Conclusion

EP was great. I give it four-stars for I really liked it. It's been a while since I read a well developed science-fiction Apocalyptic book. I recommend this book for readers who looking something other than zombies, zombies, and more zombies. If readers like me who were not at all a fan of Towards Yesterday but still want to give the author a second chance, this is it right here.

I'm biased in favor for a single PoV, so I hope the future books will stick with Emily. EP is a strong start of a series. This is a bit frightening for me because I don't know how the next book will top this one.

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REVIEW: Zombies Don't Cry by Rusty Fischer

Zombies Don't Cry by Rusty Fischer
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

CAUTION: Long Review

Lightning strikes Maddie Swift and turns the high school student into a zombie in the novel Zombies Don't Cry. Told in 1st PoV from Maddie's side, ZDC is about Maddie coming to term with her new state of life — or unlife, rather — and the danger that accompanies it. To be honest, Maddie would have faced the danger anyway because she was the next target for the villains. The story conveniently made her a zombie before anything too bad could happen to her, which I didn’t mind but some readers might. The 70,000 words story is a zombie story with zombie eating brains, but it was never gory — Twilight was more gory. ZDC was about as violent as your typical YA, but less so than The Hunger Games.

The story’s subtitle, “A Living Dead Love Story,” is a misnomer because there was no love story. There was a love interest or two. There was a dance event. And that was it. There were no dating, no couple dancing, the scenes Maddie had with her first love interest barely counted as flirting and was mostly teenage awkwardness. If anything, the romance, what little there was, made the story worse. ZDC was a routine zombie story of the ‘save the town’ trope when suddenly the story remembered it was supposed to be a love story near the end. It forced a character to become Maddie’s second love interest and slapped down an unwanted, unnecessary love triangle.

The Characters

+++ Maddie, the main character

I like her voice; I like her quick deduction of her new zombie state; I like how she did not hesitate to buy and eat brains. Whatever the situation, she adapt without drama. When people got bitten, friends turned to enemies, and bodies started dropping, Maddie did not once raise her hands and drop into hysteria. She tackled the problem straight on with any weapons she got her hands on.

With that said, there were moments when I thought she was blase about death and emotionally distant. In chapter one, she was never concerned with the fact that three of her classmates died in one semester barely half over. She used the excuse that she was a coroner’s daughter, but it was not very convincing to me. This a girl who regularly visit cemetery to do rubbing on fresh headstones. Maddie and her humor was way morbid before she ever became a zombie. I do not understand why it was a surprise to everyone and to herself when she disguised her zombie-self in Goth clothes. It was a surprise to me that she was not already dressed in Goth clothes, zombie or no zombie.

+++ Hazel, the best friend

I did not like her one bit. I thought she was pushy and manipulative.

As usual, this is all about Hazel.
Not that I mind all that much. In the 11 years since we’ve been best friends, ever since she walked up to me in my backyard one summer day and said, “I’m your new neighbor; we’re going to be best friends. Any questions?” it’s always been about Hazel.
Hazel the Girl Scout.
Hazel the wannabe fashion designer.
Hazel the head of Cheer.
Hazel the class secretary.

Hazel the insidious friend who use wallflower Maddie for a lackey and to make herself look better in comparison. I felt disbelief when Hazel got mad when Maddie did not immediately confess everything to Hazel, took that as a lie of omission, and almost broke up their friendship for that one “lie.” Hazel never once gave Maddie the benefit of doubt, and that sometime there are things too dangerous or too hurtful to openly share with friends.

I’m also pretty sure there were things Hazel never shared with Maddie and lies she told to Maddie. But one thing is for sure, Hazel was not a good friend to Maddie. Chloe the first zombie acquaintance Maddie made was a better friend than Hazel ever was in the story. I’m glad what happened to Hazel happened.

+++ Stamp, the first love interest

ZDC never let me know the reasons for why Stamp liked Maddie. All Stamp said was that Maddie was unlike any other girl he ever met, but never specific how. I like Maddie but I didn’t see what Stamp like about Maddie. They hardly knew each other beside Stamp being a jock and Maddie looking like a bookworm. They had nothing in common except for art class but only because Stamp was forced to take it.

+++ Dane, the second love interest

He’s a zombie. He dress in hoods. He’s always accompanied by Chloe that people assume Chloe is his girlfriend. He has a slight crush on Maddie that he nor Maddie never acted upon until that ridiculous last chapter and the epilogue.

And that’s about it. Dane lacked character development. Moreover, the only reason I believe he liked Maddie is because she was the only other zombie girl beside Chloe and Chloe was like a sister to Dane.

The Plot-holes

There were a few. I didn't find them annoying, I found them a disappointment. They made the last third of ZDC "meh."

1) Why was it so important and urgent for Maddie to meet the Elders, take an oath, and be formally inducted into zombie society? I got the impression there were harsh, maybe fatal consequences for not registering yourself as a new zombie. But how would a new zombie knows there were other zombies, let alone a society of them, let alone a zombie law that said you got to self-register? An Elder said, “Ignorance is no excuse.” Hell yes it is, especially for a society that survives on secrecy and whose security is through obscurity. Paradox much?

2) How come Dane and Chloe never reported villains Bones and Dahlia to the Sentinels, the zombie police? Why was there even a truce between Zerkers (the bad zombies) and zombies when all zombies have to take an oath to destroy the Zerkers? All the bad things at the end of the story could have been easily avoided if someone just took the time to report it to the zombie authority. Yet no one ever did.

3) When the dust cleared, why did the good guys have to runaway and hide from the zombie authority? It can’t just be because of the good guys’ failure to report the Zerkers or that the aftermath of the Zerkers battle might reveal zombies to the public. The ending made little sense.

In Conclusion

I enjoyed ZDC all the way till part 3 where the plot started to unravel. Then ZDC ended with an epilogue that smacked me silly with its deformed romance and sucker-punched me with a drama llama. Quite a shame because I truly enjoyed ZDC as a drama-free, routine zombie, popcorn action story.

I rate the ZDC two-stars for it was okay. I would recommend this novel for someone who wants a light zombie story.

Suggestions

If you like the humor and popcorn action part of ZDC, try .

If you like a horror-less zombie story with a mystery that's adult fiction, try .

If you want some horror and drama in a YA, try .

If you just want horror in YA, try .

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REVIEW: The Perfect Pumpkin Pie by Aaron Michaels

The Perfect Pumpkin Pie by Aaron Michaels
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

CAUTION: Long Review, Slight Spoilers

Leo the geek must overcome his insecurity if he is to find love with Judson the hunk in the novelette The Perfect Pumpkin Pie. Told in 3rd PoV from Leo’s side, the 14,000-ish words story begins with Denny criticizing his girlfriend Gloria on how to bake a pumpkin pie. Unsurprisingly, she later dumped baking ingredients on Denny and then stormed out, leaving Denny on his own to make a pumpkin pie. Enlisting his roommate’s help, Denny sent Leo to the grocery store... during Thanksgiving week. Yikes.

“I’m in pumpkin hell,” he muttered

You got that right, Leo.

Lo and Behold, a white knight on a horse in the form of Judson the assistant manager came to save Leo the dude in the distress. *swoon*

The Characters

+++ Denny

I liked Gloria despite her short appearance in the story, but I didn’t like Denny. Denny is “an anal, obsessive-compulsive perfectionist” who has “difficulties with the whole concept of sarcasm.” Now there’s a roommate from hell if I ever saw one. I also thought Denny was manipulative for “enlisting” Leo’s help by giving Leo two choices, one bad and one worse so that Leo would pick the bad one as Denny planned. I did not know why Leo couldn’t just say no to both and overall no to Denny.

I was not entirely convinced with Leo’s reason for why he put up with Denny, that reason being Denny accepting Leo for who Leo is. I thought Leo was the more accepting person for putting up with Denny's flaws.

Moreover, there was a big inconsistency with Denny's character. He found nutmeg to be a poison, but he didn't have a problem with canned pumpkin unless they're dented, however miniscule. Don't canned food have that toxic thing called BPA? And not to mention the preservatives.

+++ Leo

Low self-esteem characters generally do not endear me, but Leo was an exception. There was one moment when Leo’s insecurity grated my nerve, but it was one moment of annoyance in total for the story. I truly thought he was “cute” as Judson as aptly complimented him. Leo was not a pushover as I initially thought when he refused Denny in favor for his second-appointed date with Judson. I read with amusement as Leo nervously waited for Judson to come to Leo’s place for their third-appointed date.

+++ Judson

Judson was hot, and it wasn’t just because he was physically attractive. He was hot because he helped Leo, not once but twice even after Leo stood Judson up for their first-appointed date. More than being nice, he was hot for being forgiving. He was also hot because he was tired of one-night stands and being treated as such and now prefer a serious relationship. A guy who’s not afraid but wants commitment? Hot!

But wait, it doesn’t stop there. He cook and he look forward to meeting Leo’s family and friends. Better put a ring on that finger, Leo!

The Sexual Content

The sex content included long scenes of kissing and a short scene of mutual masturbation. There would have been shagging had someone not forgot the condoms. Dang it, Leo!

The Big Misunderstanding Trope

I didn’t like it and I thought the story could have been written without it while still keeping Leo’s low self-esteem personality and Judson’s forgiving nature intact. So when Leo showed up for his first-appointed date with Judson, he saw Judson with another hot guy. Wracked with insecurities, Leo left before Judson could see Leo. This was the moment of annoyance when Leo’s low self-esteem grated my nerve. For all Leo knows, the guy Judson was with could have been Judson’s brother!

And guess what? He was Judson’s brother. Ugh.

Fortunately, the story was quick-paced and soon Leo had to face Judson again where Judson quickly cleared up the matter. My annoyance was soon replaced with my hunger for ice cream; Leo and Judson had ice cream for their second-appointed, technically first date. With each passing appearance of Judson, I came to love him more.

Conclusion

In Denny’s attempt to cook The Perfect Pumpkin Pie, he unexpectedly led Leo to Leo’s perfect man. I concede; Denny was not all that bad. I rate The Perfect Pumpkin Pie 3 stars for I liked it. The story was most assuredly a yummy read.

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REVIEW: Shattered Glass by Dani Alexander

Shattered Glass by Dani Alexander
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

CAUTION: Long Review, Slight Spoilers

The first book in a mm-romance contemporary mystery series, Shattered Glass tells the love story of Austin Glass and Peter Cotton. You read right, there’s a character named Peter Cotton. The story begins with Detective Austin Glass being distracted by a diner waiter wearing bunny slippers. Guess who’s wearing them? Cue bunny humor, sexuality confusion, and dick jokes. Oh, there’s also the mob.

Told in 1st PoV from Austin’s side, SG contained a meaty plot. Too meaty for my liking. Usually, I like quick-paced story, but this one had my head spinning. There was a large cast of characters, too many for me to keep track. For example, at one point I forgot about Dave after the story introduced him as Austin’s estranged childhood friend. When the story re-introduced him as a Person of Interest, I went “OMG, who is this Dave person they keep talking about?” I knew the story mentioned him before, but I didn’t remember clearly. My memory of Dave was eroded by introduction of new character after new character, especially when the mob part of the story came into play. Only when I finished the story did I finally remember Dave as Austin’s childhood friend.

I also had a difficult time keeping track of the mystery. For the first half of the story, the mystery was about drug-busting. Then it morphed into human trafficking. Then it became a mob story. I love mob story, but dang, SG had too much stuff going on. Add on the twists and turns and the story became convoluted.

Now, I love complexity in a story. The Harry Potter series (4-stars imo) does it well. The Rifter series by Ginn Hale (2-stars imo) does it well. But SG? Not really. Disclaimer: I didn’t bother re-reading the story or any of its particular passages such as Peter’s mob family flashback that confused me for better understanding. The story wasn’t that captivating enough for me to do so.

FYI, this is not a GFY story. This is an OFY story.

Shattered Glass, Battered Balls

I liked Austin's immature humor, but I didn’t like him much as a person. Definitely not in the beginning. I didn’t like it when Austin kissed Peter because Austin was currently engaged. That’s cheating. I put myself in Angelica’s place. If my fiancé suddenly decided he might be straight or bi and he kissed a woman for proof? Oh Hell Fucking No. Somebody’s balls are in for some stomping. Later on the story revealed Austin to be a serial cheater. What?

It was not the first time this happened. Angelica was not the first fiancé Austin had and cheated on, she was his second. Not to mention all the girlfriends he cheated on. Yup, he cheated on every single one of them.

I had to put the book down. I felt an unusual type of anger, not the red steaming kind I am used to but the cold silent kind. I think I was so cold-angry I didn’t even read a book for a few days... OMFG, I know! As I tried to recapture the magic of reading by reading other books, SG was gaining positive reviews. Some of it by my friends. After 1-2 weeks, I decided to give SG another try. I had to anyway since I dislike leaving a bought ebook unread because it seem wasteful and the general action of DNFing a book because I’m too stubborn, possibly OCD.

SG managed to redeem Austin in my eyes through many ways. Austin accepted his newfound sexuality without much fuss and prolongment. He risked his career and life for Peter, which my logical side thought was stupid even though my emotional side went “awww.” He took a chance on love — awww, though instant love which I also think is stupid. Though not as quick as I would like, Austin confessed to Angelica and broke up the engagement.

But the biggest game changer? Jesse, Austin’s childhood gay friend that committed suicide. Left an emotional scar so bad, Austin was completely blind to himself being a closet case. Austin’s family, of course, was no help — stereotypical rich people full of hate and contempt. Dude is messed up.

Even though I still dislike Austin for being a “cheater, cheater, pumpkin eater” because no matter how messed up a person is it does not give them the right to mess other people’s lives, I came to empathize Austin. Dude was right, he does have the “bro effect.” I went from not liking Austin to sorta liking him, which was a big deal for me.

Other Characters

All the characters had depth, though some more than others. No one was perfect, everyone had flaws. Some got traits that made them easily likable in spite of their flaws. For example, Peter. I actually had no problem with his hot-cold approach to Austin.

The only thing that bothered me was the villains revealed at the end. I still have no idea why those villains did what they did. Was it greed the fueled their criminal actions? At a lost for their motives... I believe the villains, the ones at the end and not in the beginning, had the weakest character development, especially that one villain who betrayed Austin. Why the betrayal, when did the dude became crooked? =S

Oh, Cai was kinda annoying. I was too impatient with his manner of speaking, most likely why I didn’t understand what he said most of the time.

Angelica turned out not to be a bitch of an ex like so many other mm-romance that tries to make it okay for the protagonist to pursue their same-sex interest without guilt. Sure, she had an affair with Austin’s father. But hey, Austin knew about it. IIRC, some of the reasons why Austin eventually dated her after she broke up with Austin’s father was because he wanted to console her and piss off his father.

One of my favorite characters was the Albanian mother. She was crazy, she was caring, and she cock-blocked Austin. LOL.

An Unnecessary Subplot

SG had too much going on, the worst offending subplot was the bed-ridden, bitchy Mrs. Glass. From start to near end, I got the impression that Austin’s mother was dead. Austin as a messed up characters bitched about how his father was an asshole. Asshole father this, asshole father that. Later on asshole grandfather this. And then back to asshole father this and that. I agree, Austin’s father and grandfather were assholes. However, not one word about his mother was mentioned...

Till near the end, specifically right before the Epilogue. Mrs. Glass wasn’t dead. Though she was close to it, she was still alive. And bitchy. She dropped a bombshell or two (or was it three?) of family secrets, as if Austin’s family wasn’t drama-filled already. Ugh. One of them secrets was a hidden six-years old brother of Austin. Okay, I get that the story wanted a HEA for the couple but goodness was that forced. From what I gather, Austin is going to adopt his brother and live with Peter and Peter’s foster brothers as one big happy family.

Okay then...

Another Irritant

I didn’t like how at the end of the story the couple “settled the monogamy argument.” I scratched my head at that. Half out of annoyance, half not getting what it means. But somehow, I just feel... offended. The promiscuous gay guy stereotype is starting to get on my nerve in mm-romance. Ugh. Maybe, I’m just being stupidly hyper-sensitive here. IDK...

The Love Factor

The sexual content was minimal, imo, but it was still explicit. Blowjob scenes interspersed throughout the story. It was kinda hot, but I preferred the cuddling scenes.

SG was not a heavy romance because there were other things going on too like that drug-busting turned human trafficking turned mob story thing. It could have easily turned into a “I love you, I love you not” thing throughout the entire story, but I didn’t think so. Sure, the romance ran hot and cold that some readers might find it potentially exasperating, but I was always confident that the couple would pull through.

The Formatting

It didn’t affect my rating of the story but I feel it needs to be mentioned. The formatting was kinda shabby. I bought the ebook at Smashwords, and downloaded the epub format. The line-height was too small, the sentences too close to each other, making the story pretty unreadable. Fortunately, I know a bit about epub-formatting and tweaked the unwanted 100% line-height to 130% line-height on the CSS stylesheet.

Spacing between paragraphs in the same scene, I had to tweak that too. For some odd reasons, 1/4 to 1/3 of an epub page had empty spaces. It was like the paragraphs were unable to flow from one page to the next. I deleted the page-break property on the CSS stylesheet, and it did fix the spacing issue to a large extend. Not completely, but to a large extend.

FYI, the mobi version is only available at Amazon. If you buy the ebook at Smashwords and want a mobi format, better open up Calibre for conversion.

To re-iterate: the formatting was kinda shabby but it wasn’t that bad and did not affect my rating of the story.

I also noticed an editing mistake.

[Fbi agents, US Marshalls and a detective vouching for the boy and taking him into his home is enough to convince me that he isn’t a flight risk.] in Chapter 13. Bolding is my own. "Fbi" should be "FBI," "Marshalls" as "Marshals," and the sentence needs a comma after "Marshalls."

Conclusion

I rate SG two-stars for it was okay. I might continue the series; the next book will be a low priority read.

I recommend SG for anyone who likes the Life Lessons series by Kaje Harper. For anyone who likes SG, I recommend the Life Lessons series by Kaje Harper.

It just so happened after I finished SG, I started another mob story — Wild Thing by Josh Bazell, a mainstream non-mm-romance mystery book. Sarah Palin as a character introduced in the last 1/3 of the book threw me for a loop. O_O I totally did not see that coming. The book shared many things in common with SG such as a flawed protagonist, but I liked the execution in Wild Thing better, including its breaking-the-reader-dimension footnotes.

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REVIEW: Come & Play: Video Games by Juniper Gray

Come & Play: Video Games by Juniper Gray
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Come and Play: Video Game is a sweet short story that begins with two college students playing a shooting video game. Soon, Matt brings up the sex topic, creating an awkward but sexually tensed moment. Rafe is bi, Matt is straight... or so Matt thinks. Told in 3rd PoV from Matt's side, the 3800-ish words story takes place over a month and focuses on Matt trying to come to term about his sexuality and feelings toward Rafe.

Gaming

There are two video game scenes in total, one at the start and one at the end. Even though the video game was of a shooter genre and I'm only familiar with the RPG genre, I understood the lingo perfectly. Plus, the story transitioned smoothly from the action in the video game to the action in the living room where the young men are gaming. Never once in the story did I feel lost or didn't know the setting.

Readers not attracted by the video game part of the story need not to worry. The story could have easily began with Matt and Rafe watching TV or playing a sport together. The story is not about the hobby, but about two guys sexually experimenting and possibly finding love.

Sexual Content

The sexual content includes two groin groping scenes, a blowjob, and a kiss. The story mostly relies on sexual tension for its heat element. If you're going to read this, do it for the romance and not for the sex.

Short Story Too Short?

The ending was, at the very least, a HFN. I generally dislike short stories because I frequently find them lacking. This short story was no different. I thought the ending was too short for my liking. I would have prefer it Matt and Rafe did the deed and the story ended with them cuddling in bed. I did not care a wit for the fade in black sex scene and the promise of tru wuv for an ending. Therefore, I rate the story 2-stars for it was okay.

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REVIEW: Being Human by Patricia Lynne

Being Human by Patricia Lynne
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

CAUTION: Long Review, Spoilers

A fifteen-years old boy wakes up and finds himself as a vampire in Being Human. With a strong survival instinct that is quickly extinguishing memories of his human life, Tommy rushes to sake his blood thirst, murdering his family in the process. Only one family member survives — his twin brother Danny.

Told in 1st POV from Tommy’s side, Being Human (BH) divides its plot into five parts, chapters nonexistent, and spans across (by my guesstimate) 30-40 years. The story is a character-driven piece, and there were times when I thought “this is not a story; this is a situation.” The prose was surreal, which slightly jarred the beginning of my reading. In other words, reading BH felt like reading about a dream. Nevertheless, I managed to conform to BH and my reading experience was relatively smooth, meaning there were few moments of skimming. Upside, BH was flawlessly edited and formatted, taking into account that this book is self-pub.

The story is set in the near future where vampires are real and outed and humans have mini flame-throwers to fight them.

The Characters

+++ Tommy

For most of the story, I did not care for him, especially in “Part One: Brothers.” This was due to my difficulty adjusting to the prose at the start, and part one was seemingly more telling than showing — it was more introspection than I expected. Moreover, I found the matter-of-fact manner in which Tommy killed and fed upon his parents and some strangers quite disturbing. Tommy deciding not to kill Danny was not enough to make me like Tommy. And tbh, I kind of eye-rolled at the twin-bond trope, which fortunately BH never abused.

Do notice that I said “for most of the story” — emphasis on most — meaning there was moments where I did like Tommy. I like Tommy when he helped a suicidal, physically abused girl in part two. I like Tommy when he rescued Jamie from a child abuser. I chuckled when Tommy wanted to keep Jamie as a human pet. As the story progressed, moments when I sympathize with Tommy were more frequent. Nonetheless, the times when I do care about Tommy existed only in moments, here today gone the next.

One thing that did stayed with me throughout the entire story was the creep factor Tommy maintained as a vampire, the creep factor all vampires have. I could never forget Tommy was a vampire and the danger vampires presented no matter how much emotions Tommy showed. Sure, the emotions made him more human, but dude — he’s still a vampire. The story made it clear that a vampire’s survival instinct will always win.

+++ Danny

He played such a big role in part one through two, trying to keep Tommy human-like and safe as best as he could, that I was unhappy when his role was minimized as a side character in part three through five. In short, there were not enough scenes of Danny to my satisfaction. If I had to choose a character in BH as my favorite, Danny was it.

Hello, unconditional love. His twin brother is a vampire. His twin brother killed their parents. His twin brother kills people to feed. Danny put up with that and more — for instance, allowing Tommy to live with Danny’s family. I admit, I would have labeled Danny crazy just like the vampires-hating humans did were it not for Tommy and his being not a completely evil vampire.

+++ Jamie

Or Sunlight as Tommy likes to her. Ugh. I did not like her one bit. I saw nothing special about her, I was at lost to how Tommy could love her. Why her and not the other girls, like the suicidal physically-abused one he saved in part two?

All I saw was a damaged, depressed, easily pitiable girl. I was upset at how her role became more important in part three through five, supplanting Danny’s role. She replaced Danny as the character who keeps Tommy human-like. Geeze. Why is it always the outcast or damaged girl who likes vamp-boy? Can for once I read about a well-adjusted or kick-ass girl who like vampire bad boy in a YA? I despise passive heroines.

+++ Amber

Or Fallen as the nutty girl likes to call herself. Her antics and desire to become a vampire were both frustrating and funny. I was sad when she died, mostly because I wouldn’t see any more stupid craziness from her. At least her death was a realistic end to her life. I thought to myself: “This is the true story of Bella from Twilight.” LOL. However minor of a role she played, she was my second favorite character after Danny.

The World-Building

The world was relatively well built. I learned how vampires were outed. I learned how the Vampire Forces fights vampires. I learned a human is considered certifiably crazy for sympathizing with vampires. Overall, BH had a small streak of dystopia. Yet there were a couple of things that didn’t make good sense to me, specifically regarding to the nature and history of vampires.

1) I was fine with not knowing why vampires were fatally allergic to sunlight because the story said the scientists were still in the discovery process. But I was not fine with not knowing why vampires cannot cross thresholds. Why made some thresholds crossable and others non-crossable? I never know.

2) The story repeatedly said, through Tommy’s POV, that a vampire’s survival instincts will always win. That is when a vampire suffers a dire need of blood, it will attack any nearby human, even if the human is a loved one. IMO, this make vampires prone to violence. So why were there non-violent pro-vampire rights protest? Why did those vampires died pacifically when the Vampire Forces burned them to death? Vampire protesters acting like Buddhist monks? This does not compute.

3) Sex, I thought once you become a vampire you lose your sex drive. But late in the story, Tommy had the desire or at least I think he did. The story never explained in clear details about vampires and sex. I need the undead birds and bees talk pronto!

4) Fire. Vampire’s worst enemy. Actually, any creature’s worst enemy. I did not understand why fire was necessary to a kill a vampire. Cannot guns and swords do the same, or better yet, be more effective? What makes fire so special?

5) Vampires need blood to survive, we all know this. But did they necessarily have to kill people to feed? IIRC, Tommy was able to feed a few times on some people, e.g. Danny, without killing them. Why couldn't vampires feed and then hypnotize their victims into momentary amnesia? Or why couldn't vampires just rob a blood bank? Feeding without killing seems to me is the best way to survive, which would have causes a lot less vampire-hating. So why didn't any vampire do this on a habitual basis?

6) People could recognize a vampire, sans-disguise, easily. People could even recognize a vampire by their weird, unhuman-like movement. If this was so, why did it took a vampire committing suicide in public to out the vampire race? People used to believe in vampires long time ago, and then they didn’t believe in vampires anymore in the modern world, and later they believe in vampires again in the future set in BH. What happen in the time that made people stop believing in vampires? I was not satisfied in just accepting vampires were here one era, gone the next, and back again in the era of BH. The history of vampires of BH in regards to their existence was sorely lacking.

These world-building holes were not annoying in the story when I read it. Only when I started writing this review and reflecting back on BH did I noticed these holes.

The Ending

It suck. I’m pro-HEA who likes to live in La-La Land so that is not surprising. But more than that, I was wondering what was the goal of the story. I thought it was about Tommy trying to reclaim his humanity. But I never got impression he was actively doing that. For example, in part five he didn’t know a camera flash was not fire. Tommy talked to humans, but he never learned from them or how they act or think or whatever. BH spanned across decades, you think he would have learned enough to pass by as a human, even if only an eccentric one. But no. Heck, Tommy could at least crack open a psychology book in part two of BH when Danny was in college.

I wonder if the story was trying to say that vampires can never be human no matter how much they try to. Or it could just be a Tommy being an idiot thing. I don’t know.

So when Tommy escaped and relinquished his imitation of humanity, I thought “what a bummer” and “you suck at being human anyway.”

And that was it... or was it?

Later on after I finished the book, I browsed the author’s blog and learned there will be a sequel — Being Vampire, book 2 of the Being series. So the ending made more sense now as in “Oooooh, so that was supposed to be a cliffhanger.” Gotcha.

Conclusion

I rate BH two stars for it was okay. I did not expect BH to span decades. I would have prefer a plot where Danny and Tommy are teenagers from start to end to keep it succinctly YA. As I said, Danny was my favorite character.

Would I read the sequel? Yes.

Similar Reading

= A vampire waking up and finding herself human. Same kind of writing style but less surreal. Have a stronger romantic element.

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